The Tánaiste, Ms Harney will travel to Macroom in Co Cork with IDA Ireland officials this afternoon to meet the 670 staff who are to lose their jobs at the General Semiconductor plant.
A task forced charged with bringing a new industry to the area is expected to be announced when the Minister meets with staff at 3 p.m.
The IDA has contacted international electronics companies based in Ireland to ascertain whether more job losses in the sector are likely.
More than 50,000 people are employed in the internationally-owned high-technology sector in the Republic.
Up to 4,500 of these have lost their jobs since the beginning of 2001, although the IDA said 2,500 new jobs have been created since the beginning of the year - leaving a net sector job loss of 2,000.